The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)

Reed wins The Barclays, earns Ryder Cup spot

-

Patrick Reed picked up two victories in one day. He won The Barclays to assure himself a shot at the $10M bonus in the FedEx Cup, and he easily secured a spot on his second straight U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Patrick Reed picked up two victories in one day. He won The Barclays in Farmingdal­e, New York, to assure himself a clear shot at the $10 million bonus in the FedEx Cup, and he easily secured a spot on his second straight U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Rickie Fowler, with a surprising meltdown, walked away empty from Bethpage Black.

Reed overcame an early two-shot deficit and built a big enough lead on the back nine that some nervous shots and sloppy play didn’t keep him from winning for the first time since the 2015 opener at Kapalua. A bogey on the final hole gave him a 1-under 70 and a one-shot victory over Sean O’Hair and Emiliano Grillo.

Fowler still hasn’t won in four tries as a 54-hole leader on the PGA Tour, and this one might sting. He was still in contention, two shots behind with four holes to play, and at least figured to have one of the eight automatic spots on the Ryder Cup team locked up. Fowler needed to finish third to move past Zach Johnson into the eighth spot in the U.S. standings, and he was two shots clear of O’Hair and Grillo.

His tee shot into deep rough left of the 15th fairway led to bogey. From more rough on the 16th, he went into a bunker and took two shots to reach the green, making a double bogey. After a 20-foot birdie putt kept alive his hopes, he promptly found more rough on the 18th and finished with a bogey for a 74.

Fowler tied for seventh and moved up one spot to No. 11 in the standings. Fowler still has a reasonable chance to be at Hazeltine on Sept. 30 for the Ryder Cup because Davis Love III doesn’t make his three captain’s picks until after the next two FedEx Cup playoff events. The fourth pick will be after the Tour Championsh­ip, so that’s another month to audition.

Reed finished at 9-under 275. He moved to No. 9 in the world ranking, and No. 1 in the FedEx Cup, and is assured of being in the top five who only have to win the Tour Championsh­ip to take the $10 million.

LPGA

Ariya Jutanugarn ran away with the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open at chilly Priddis Greens for her LPGA Tour-leading fifth victory of the year — all in the last 10 events.

Nine days after withdrawin­g from the Rio Olympics because of a left knee injury, the 20-year-old Thai player made a 12-birdie putt on the final hole for a 6-under 66 and a four-stroke victory.

Bundled up in a winter jacket between shots with the temperatur­e in the lows 50s on the overcast afternoon, the second-ranked Jutanugarn matched the tournament record for relation of 23 under set by So Yeon Ryu two years ago at London Hunt in Ontario and the mark for strokes of 265 set by Ryu and also accomplish­ed by Lydia Ko in 2013 at par-70 Royal Mayfair in Edmonton.

After a late meltdown cost Jutanugarn her first LPGA Tour victory in April in the major ANA Inspiratio­n, she broke through in May with three straight victories. She won the Women’s British Open in the event before the Olympics, and made it two in a row on the tour Sunday in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies — blasting 2-iron and 3-wood off the driving holes on the tree-lined course.

South Korea’s Sei Young Kim, a two-time winner this year, was second after a 65.

South Korea’s In Gee Chun, the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open champion, was third at 18 under after a 69.

Canada’s Alena Sharp had the best result of her LPGA Tour career, birdieing the final two holes for a 67 to finish fourth at 16 under. Three-time champion Ko had a 69 to tie for seventh at 13 under.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States